Don't panic! Mincemeat is a sweet English concoction of dried fruits, apples, spices, sugar, rum, brandy and (depending on personal preferences) suet. In Ye Olden Days, it did contain beef mince (ground beef), but over the years this has been phased out and its undoubtably yummier for it!
Last year I optimistically made a huge batch of mincemeat (2L in case you were curious) and never actually got around to making more than one batch. Since then, the mincemeat has been sitting in a nice dark cupboard maturing and gradually getting rather tasty... However, until today I've been stumped as to what to do with it.
Today I wanted to do some baking, but I didn't want to have to do anything particularly fiddly, so I unearthed my muffin book (Muffins - Fast and Fantastic, Susan Reimer) and flicked through. After crossing off half the recipes in the book due to lack of either yogurt (I've guzzled a huge pot of greek yogurt, topped with coconut curd) or buttermilk, I stumbled across an interesting sounding recipe for Mincemeat Sultana Muffins. Aha! A quick check of the cupboards revealed that I had everything necessary, so I got to work.
Muffins seem to have a reputation for being difficult. I've never had any issues getting muffins to rise or have the right texture, despite being very heavy-handed when mixing the batter. For me, the most difficult thing about baking muffins is persuading the muffin cases to stay within the tin whilst they're being filled!
This particular batter seems very resilient... I realised midway through filling the cases that I'd omitted the oil, so ended up scraping the batter back into the bowl so that I could gently stir the oil through. Not to be recommended. It took quite a bit of stirring to persuade the oil and batter to mix. However, the muffins did rise and definitely taste good!
Due to the mincemeat (well, the suet in the mincemeat), the muffins are very rich and tender. I think they would be over the top if you were to use melted butter, and let's face it - its way more convenient to just measure a few spoonfuls of oil! The aroma and taste is incredible, very Christmassy but not overpoweringly so. I'll definitely make these again; afterall, I still have approximately 1.4L of mincemeat to go!!
Mincemeat Sultana Muffins
Makes 11-12 standard size
10oz (280g) plain flour
2 teaspoons (10ml) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (2.5ml) bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon (2.5ml) salt
3oz (85g) caster sugar (I used golden caster, hence the fairly dark colour of the finished muffins)
1 egg
8fl oz (240ml) milk
12oz (350g) ready-made mincemeat
3fl oz (90ml) vegetable oil or 3oz (85g) butter, melted
3oz (85g) sultanas
Icing sugar for dusting the tops, optional
Prepare muffin tins (either grease or line with paper cases). Preheat oven to 190-200C or Gas Mark 5-6.
In a large bowl, sift together: flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and sugar.
In a separate bowl, beat egg with a fork. Stir in milk, mincemeat and oil/melted butter.
Pour all of liquid ingredients into dry mixture. Stir until just combined, adding the sultanas in the final few strokes. The batter will be lumpy but no dry flour will be visible. Do not overstir.
Fill muffin cups three-quarters full. Bake for 20=25 minutes until tops are lightly browned and spring back when pressed gently. Allow muffins to cool for several minutes to make removal easier. Sieve icing sugar over the top.
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why is it called minceMEAT? isn't that ground beef?
1. Posted by izan on November 19, 2007
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I can see how you'd be confused! Its an old English dish/concept, dating back to Medieval times.
Modern mincemeat is a sweet spicy mixture of fruit (apples in mine), dried fruit (raisins, sultanas, currants, candied peel), rum, brandy and sugar. Some folks add suet to make it more succulent when cooked.
In medieval times, it DID contain beef, however this has been phased out over the years. Back then it was served as part of the main course.
These days its used to make mince pies at Christmas (little sweet pastry pies) and then we spend the rest of the year trying to think of ways to use it up!
2. Posted by Angela on November 19, 2007
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One of the unfortunate things about living in Honolulu is that there is just no seasonal reason for mincemeat or cassoulet or any such lovely grey weather comfort food. But on a positive note, my huge and vaguely mutant basil is on the verge of growing feet, uprooting itself, and taking over the city.
3. Posted by emily b. hunt on November 19, 2007